The National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) Iloilo aims to raise public awareness and inspire appreciation of Filipino heritage with its Pambansang Museum sa Barangay (PMB) project.

NMP Iloilo officer-in-charge Maricyn De Los Santos on Monday said the PMB are mobile boxes brought to barangays for display and public viewing.

They have five boxes containing a replica of their national collections inside the museum to make them accessible to the public.

The boxes feature biodiversity conservation of West Visayas fauna, national cultural treasure (Oton Gold Death Mask), elephant and stegodon (The gentle Giants of Panay), and Haból Panay (The woven artistry of Western Visayas), among others.

“We came up with the program for everyone who has difficulty accessing to go to the museum –we can go to their place. It is called Pambansang Museum sa Barangay because we bring the boxes to the barangay. Yung mandate kasi ng (Because the mandate of the) National Museum is to make the national collections accessible to everyone,” she said in an interview.

The traveling exhibition started in 2022 and expanded to schools, state universities, and barangays.

Last year, they brought the exhibits to Passi National High School, Santa Barbara Central Elementary School, and Northern Iloilo State University (NISU).

They also brought the exhibit to Iloilo State University of Fisheries Science and Technology (ISUFST)-Dingle campus last month and in Barangay Hibao-an Norte here in April.

They target to bring the exhibit next to Barangay Ingore in Iloilo City. (PNA)